Need help with today's NYT Mini Crossword? Here are all the clues, hints, and answers for Sunday, March 15, 2026. Hints come first — scroll past them only when you're ready for the full solutions.
What Is the NYT Mini Crossword?
The NYT Mini Crossword is a fast 5×5 crossword puzzle published daily by The New York Times. It's designed to be solved in minutes, making it a perfect daily brain warm-up before tackling the full crossword. Sunday's grid tends to be a little more satisfying to complete over your morning coffee.
Hints for Today's Mini Crossword — March 15, 2026
Not quite ready for the answers? Here are one-word nudges to help you along:
Across
- 1A: Think hospital, not smartphone
- 6A: Amazon's voice in the room
- 7A: A late-night host takes the Oscars stage
- 8A: Exactly how you feel when this puzzle has you beat
- 9A: Road sign shorthand — plural
Down
- 1D: Dark money, abbreviated
- 2D: More than a few, informally
- 3D: Taxonomy class above species
- 4D: Precise, no more no less
- 5D: Like a leaderboard, sorted top to bottom
Across Clues and Answers —, 2026
1 Across: On-call doctor's device
Answer: PAGER
Before smartphones, a pager was the essential tool for reaching a doctor at any hour — and many hospitals still use them today.
6 Across: Amazon virtual assistant
Answer: ALEXA
Alexa is Amazon's voice assistant, built into Echo devices and millions of smart home setups around the world.
7 Across: Host of the 2026 Oscars
Answer: CONAN
Conan O'Brien hosted the 2026 Academy Awards ceremony, bringing his signature dry wit to Hollywood's biggest night.
8 Across: Stumped on a puzzle, say
Answer: STUCK
A little self-referential for a puzzle hints page — but here we are, and now you're not.
9 Across: Aves. and blvds.
Answer: STS
The abbreviation STS covers streets of all kinds — avenues, boulevards, and everything in between.
Down Clues and Answers — March 15, 2026
1 Down: Election-influencing groups, for short
Answer: PACS
PACs — Political Action Committees — are organisations that pool campaign contributions to influence elections in the United States.
2 Down: Quite a few
Answer: ALOT
An informal but universally understood way of saying there's no shortage of something.
3 Down: The "Tyrannosaurus" of Tyrannosaurus rex
Answer: GENUS
In biological taxonomy, genus sits above species. Tyrannosaurus is the genus; rex is the species — giving us the full name Tyrannosaurus rex.
4 Down: Right on
Answer: EXACT
Precise, accurate, spot-on. No wiggle room whatsoever.
5 Down: Puts in order from best to worst, maybe
Answer: RANKS
To rank is to arrange by position — whether you're sorting athletes, restaurants, or puzzle solvers.
Full Answers Summary — March 15, 2026
Across
- 1A: PAGER
- 6A: ALEXA
- 7A: CONAN
- 8A: STUCK
- 9A: STS
Down
- 1D: PACS
- 2D: ALOT
- 3D: GENUS
- 4D: EXACT
- 5D: RANKS
Today's grid had a fun mix of pop culture (CONAN, ALEXA) and vocabulary (GENUS, EXACT) that kept things interesting without being too devious. PAGER crossing PACS in the top-left corner was the trickiest intersection — both short, both abbreviation-adjacent, and easy to second-guess.
More Daily Puzzle Help
Looking for hints from other days? Check out our recent Mini Crossword guides: